ants!

ants! (1977)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Robert Scheerer

Starring: Robert Foxworth, Lynda Day George, Gerald Gordon, Myrna Loy (!), Brian Dennehy (RIP)

From: Alan Landsburg Productions

Like everyone else, I was upset when I heard the news that Brian Dennehy had passed away. I haven't reviewed on Letterboxd everything I've ever seen him in but for many years he's been a familiar face and always a pleasure to see act. I haven't seen any of his work on-stage... maybe one day I'll come across a recording of his theatre work. As I have already reviewed First Blood and Tommy Boy in the past-both memorable, for entirely different reasons, I went for something presumably light-hearted instead of serious; furthermore, this was in the first year of his career once he went into the world of films and this was one of many made for television movies he did in his life. Sometime soon I'll see something from the prime of his career.

He does not show up until the third act so I will describe the movie in full. It was one of many Nature Gone Amok pictures prevalent in the 1970's. In this case, pesticides and “other chemicals” are to blame for ants raising hell at a rustic lakeside resort somewhere on the left coast of the United States (actually filmed in British Columbia). There are various dramatic subplots, including a few romantic relationships-one of which involves a guy that looks just like Aaron Eckhart, except with a different chin-a smug jerk who wants to buy the resort and turn it into a casino, the hesitation of the resort's owner-believe it or not, Myrna Loy-even without knowledge of the place's future fate, and it is construction next door of a new resort which pisses off the ants and causes them to attack.

Now, this movie is on the silly side. I mean, one person is hurt and the other killed on the job site and instead of detectives or the Board of Health, it is construction workers Robert Foxworth and Bernie Casey who are asked by a doctor to investigate what happened. In a plot point I swear was unknown beforehand, the Board of Health does show up and they determine the accidents and deaths that have happened are... due to a virus so the resort has to be quarantined-this might be a plot point I can't avoid for the rest of 2020. Instead of testing the guests or sequestering them... they are asked to leave?! Huh? Then again, this is a movie where another Board of Health member opines for the days when pest control involved ARSENIC as somehow that is better or safer than the insecticides of the 1970's. Thankfully this piece of work provided some solid unintentional laughs.

Be that as it may, I can still give this an OK rating. The cast is an unusual grouping of talent-the other big names not already mentioned are Lynda Day George and Suzanne Somers. There is at least some scenes of tension and creepiness, and the final act is memorable as the fire department shows up to try and rescue the few people (i.e. the main characters) still left in the hotel. Even in a small role, Dennehy delivered a quality performance and it was exactly what you'd expect that character to be. There was also a creepy score that included some piercing violins, a horror staple.

Like I said, this was OK. Some TV movies of the past are well worth watching; I've seen some of those and in the future I'll check out a few others. As for this motion picture, it's known by a few others. I'll go by what was shown on screen in the beginning: ants! It's like Aranofsky with mother!